


Prologue; Adjustment Period

by justinsbuzz



Series: Everything Changes, Everything Stays arc [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 12:29:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16137281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justinsbuzz/pseuds/justinsbuzz
Summary: It had been a week since Stevens birthday, and things seem to be going down hill since. the gems are becoming estranged from one another, and Steven feels responsible. at the same time, Connie starts 9th grade to find that things aren't going to be as simple as she had thought. but in the end, as long as Steven and Connie know they can believe in each-other as well as themselves, they can make it through this new form of normal, for nothing stays the same forever.





	Prologue; Adjustment Period

**Author's Note:**

> the first story in a month-to-month arc. This takes place a week after Steven's birthday when things were suppose to settle down. definite fluff piece.

The bright morning sunlight shown through the large window at the entrance of the house, and danced on the wood and stone floor of the floor of the sizable foyer. The house was quiet, apart from the coffee machine running and Steven eating his cereal at the kitchen bar. As he looked around the house again for what seemed to be the thousandth time, he was still in awe as to how much humans and gems could accomplish in the span of a couple of weeks. The house was 3 stories tall now, just a story shy of brushing up against the Temple guardians chin. He noticed that parts of the barn were incorporated into the house, with the barn door becoming the main window to the second and third floor. The living room ceiling was dizzyingly high, making the living room and foyer look almost like an atrium. A couple of bubbles floated throughout the high ceiling, some containing glow sticks for ambient lighting, or others containing miscellaneous things like leaves, or game tickets. One blue bubble contained a slowly self-moving, 20-sided Rubik cube. A couple of gems were wary of this one, with one Aquamarine asking a Sapphire what would happen if it completed, only to have the Sapphire shutter in terror and whisper that things will be OK repeatedly. That moment never left Stevens mind. All in all, the house was amazing. They added a few new gems to the Temples doors for Lapis, Peridot, a group of Nephrites known as Leo Squadron, and the Famethysts, as a place for them to stay. Peridot never really wanted to move into her room inside the temple, so they opted to make a nonfunctioning bathroom for her to sleep in. after nearly one incident, Peridot carved her name into the door, and a message for anyone roaming that floor, saying “Keep Out. No Clods!” as a way to keep people out. For all the other rooms, there was a couple of guest rooms, Stevens personal bedroom, which almost looked like his old room and a part of the living room. There was a part of a wall that had a stone wedged into it with a message that said “Never Forget; Do it for her. Do it for him.” the stone was the one he recovered from the shattered boulder that nearly killed Connie a long time ago. A picture of Connie was in a frame nearby, one of the few things that wasn't totally destroyed. Steven is still getting use to the idea of calling Connie his girlfriend. He chuckles to himself from time to time thinking about it. There was one more room that had been built for someone who needed a room for some time; his dad, Greg.

Greg walked down from the stairs that lead to the second floor where his room was, looking more rested than usual. Sleeping in an actual bedroom for once in about 15 years could change a person.

“Morning Schtu-ball. Any plans today?” Greg asked, pouring some coffee for himself. Steven attention shifted from staring at the new house to his dad.

“Um. Wait, what time is it?” Steven asked abruptly.

“About 7:30. why?” Greg turned and asked Steven, only to see the front door close and hearing Steven calling for lion. It was Connie's first day of High school, and he promised to drop her off, since her parents are busy that morning.

In front of Beach City High, Students were trudging their way into the building, looking completely defeated at the fact that summer had ended, and they had to deal with all of this again. The Pizza twins, as well as Buck and Sour-cream got out of the car they all came in and had walked towards the entrance when a pink portal opened up in front of them. They all took a couple of steps back as a Lion and two teens entered through a wormhole that came out of nowhere. All of the students were frozen at the sight of a large pink lion that had appeared before them. Connie was looking around at all of the faces, beginning to feel a bit self-conscious about their entrance, but stopped to look at Buck and the cool kids who were nearby. She dismounted from lion.

“Are you OK, Connie?” Steven asked, looking worried at the nervous Connie.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. First day jitters. Skipping an entire grade and being dropped into High school while riding a pink lion will do that.” Connie said, trying to mask her nervousness with a joke, but it wasnt working.

“Whoa! Hey Steven! And Connie, hey!” Jenny called out to them. The cool kids met Connie at Steven's birthday. At first, they gushed over how cute of a couple they were on the video Amethyst has sent to everyone on her contacts list. But after a while talking to her, as well as getting to know Stevonie, they kind of welcomed her as one of their own.

“Oh. Hey. You go here too?” Connie asked nervously, and then feeling humiliated about asking an obvious question.

“Sadly, yeah.” Sour Cream answered as the gang met up to her. “Wait, I thought you were a middle schooler?”

“Well, I kind of skipped a grade. I go here now.” Connie said in a shy tone. This was new to Steven. She usually is self-confident, but seeing her scared made him want to bubble her for safety. But an idea came to him.

“Hey guys? Mind if I ask you for a favor?” Steven asked the small group.

“Sup?” Buck replied.

“It's Connie’s first day. You think you could show her the ropes, maybe keep her safe?” Steven asked them. Connie looked back at Steven in disbelief that he would ask them for doing something like that.

“Sure. Any friend of yours is ours too.” Jenny replied. “Especially since she's your girlfriend.”

Jenny winked at Connie, which made her feel slightly more insecure.

“She's just playing Connie. You can hang with us, we'll have your back.” Kiki reassured her. “What classes are you taking?”

Connie fumbled around her book bag for the list of classes, and produced a slip of paper showing some freshman AP courses and a PE class. The group looked over it with some surprise as to how many advanced classes she has.

“Wow....you're a smart one.” Kiki complimented Connie on the list of classes. “I'm actually a TA in a couple of these classes.”

“And we got PE together. Strange, but cool.” Jenny said looking at her own papers. So far. It seems like Connie will be in safe hands. Steven could sense the relief Connie had felt.

“You going to be OK, Connie?” Steven asked, leaping down from Lion, who was a bit confused as to all of these people, which a couple of them looked familiar to him.

“I....I think I will be.” Connie turned to Steven and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Steven.”

The Kiki and Jenny chuckled to themselves at Steven and Connie's display of affection.

“Cute.” they said at the same time. Steven and Connie both blushed hard, as Steven got back up on lion.

“You...You didn't float.” Connie remarked.

“I guess I didn't. I think. I might have a handle on this” Steven said, feeling impressed with himself.

“Bye Biscuit. See you this afternoon. Maybe.” Connie told him.

“Bye Strawberry. Love ya.” Steven replied. Jenny and Kiki were still chuckling at all of this. Connie knew someone would try to embarrass her on her first day, but never thought it would come in a form of a half-human, half-gem kid on a Lion. ‘Well, it could have been worse’ she thought to herself.

Steven returned 15 minutes after dropping Connie off at the school, slightly breathless and in realization that he was in mid conversation with his dad. Greg was still at the counter, reading the newspaper. He looked up when Steven walked into the door with Lion right behind him, making a beeline to the new couch he’s still trying to break in.

“Sorry for running out like that, dad. I promised Connie I would take her to school on her first day. She’s really nervous, but I know some people who will have her back and show her around.” Steven told his dad as he sat back down.

“Ah. That was nice of you. At some point, we might need to have a talk, but I think that can wait for another time.” Greg said before finishing the coffee. “I don’t have to be in work for a couple of hours though...”

“If its about the ‘Talk’, I think Garnet and Pearl might have tried to give it to me, but I filled in the gaps. But, maybe talk about it later. I had some questions I wanted to ask you.” Steven said, looking at his now soggy bowl of cereal. He debated if he should throw it out or not. He then noticed amethyst was at the end of the bar, her head on the counter.

“What’s up?” Greg asked Steven.

“Dad, the new house. The changes around town. The Maheswaran’s new house on the beach, as well as a few others. How much did that all cost? Did you pay for it?” Steven asked in a somewhat worried tone.

“What? No. well, cost of materials barely made a scratch. The, um, new additions built everything. Mostly because it was something to do to get use to the new surroundings.” Greg answered Steven. “And also, some things had come up that meant that we wont have to worry about money for a while.”

“What do you mean?” Steven asked suspiciously.

“Well, Marty came by. Again. Apparently, the 10 million was just the first payment. Marty’s lawyers kind of pressured him on giving the rest of the royalties over to me.” Greg said with a small sense of resentment in his tone.

“Are we beginning to have too much money?” Steven said jokingly in reference to ‘Lil butler’. Greg chuckled softly to the reference while shaking his head.

“No. its not that. I’m just worried that it might change things for the worse. Money can do that.” Greg told Steven. He thought back on his childhood, and some of the things that had happened. Things he wasn’t ready to talk about yet.

“I don’t think it will. I was just worried about you going broke and having to live in the van again.” Steven said. “It’s great that you’re around more. Especially now.”

The past week, things weren’t the best for Steven. The new house was great, and the new gems in town were getting along with everyone around town. But the fallout of Pinks reveals still left some scars. Some which are noticeable in Amethyst’s attitude and Pearl’s absence. Every so often, Steven would hear arguing out front of the temple door, or just muted silence from Peridot’s room. Not everything had blown over. Steven’s sense of responsibility and sense of guilt seem to have formed a partnership to torment Steven.

“So, what all had changed since I was gone.” Steven asked his dad.

“Well, I might have persuaded Doug to talk to the mayor about a security job, since he seemed to be almost laid off. He’ll be working at the light house as a light house keeper.” Greg told Steven as he looked out the window at the beach. The arm ships were mostly gone, but bits of the wreckage still poked up from the water. A Lapis Lazuli and a few Amethysts sat on the beach, talking to themselves about how to het the rest out, and what to do with the remnants. Perhaps the Peridots might make another sculpture, maybe?

“Wasn’t being the lighthouse keeper Ronaldo’s job? Is Ronaldo going to be Mr. Maheswaran’s boss?” Steven asked with the thought of Ronaldo feeding Doug’s head with a bunch of misinformation.

“Well, that’s the other thing. Ronaldo is moving out and going to college. After everything that had happened, it seemed as though he seen enough weirdness for one lifetime.” Greg told Steven. “I know I’ve seen enough weirdness for 10, but some people aren’t too well adjusted. Besides, it’ll be good for him to get out of there and do something.”

“So, Doug works for the city now?”

“Pretty much. This town actually never had a police department here, so I guess he’s kind of a Cristal Gem sheriff now. Which is something I never expected him to be. A long way from college.” Greg replied, reminiscing again on something that Steven would hope would have a song in it.

“Did you also persuade Dr. Maheswaran to open up a clinic too?” Steven asked curiously.

“Actually, that wasn’t me. During the wedding reception, she talked with a few people if there was a clinic in Beach City or not. She was shocked to hear there wasn’t.” Greg told Steven. “So, once you guys got back from Homeworld, and we were rebuilding your house, she kind of…. well…. insisted that there would be a medical clinic in Beach City.”

 

Greg remembered the afternoon where Steven and Connie had just left for Mask Island. Priyanka’s form of insistence came in the guise of a really stern and somewhat frightening person.

“‘I DEMAND THAT THIS TOWN HAVE A MEDICAL CLINIC AT ONCE! WITH ALL OF THE THINGS THAT GOES ON HERE, I’M SURPRISED ANYONE STILL LIVES HERE! I WILL NOT HAVE YOUR CHILD OR MINE TO BE IN A PLACE WHERE THEY COULD BE SERIOUSLY INJURED, AND HAVE NO MEDICAL CARE!” Priyanka had roared at Greg, Doug, and a mildly amused Yellow Diamond.

“I’m…. I’m scared Doug.” Greg had murmured to Doug.

“I know, buddy. Just don’t make any sudden moves, and don’t avoid eye contact. We’ll get through this, just build the clinic fast.” Doug whispered back at Greg. Yellow Diamond chuckled with amusement.

“I like this one. She’s spunky. Can I have her?” Yellow asked Doug and Greg. Why she would need to ask is beyond comprehension. But the answer came with Priyanka staring down Yellow, like she was about to shatter Yellow with her mind. No one wanted to test the theory.

“Um. Yeah. Definitely. One top of the line clinic coming up.” Greg and Doug said in unison, trying to help advert another world ending catastrophe.

 

Steven would be correct if he guessed how it all happened.

“Um, anything else happen?” Steven asked.

“Well, our Lapis had flown away almost immediately after she reformed, which I’m beginning to think is nothing new. Pearl and Garnet had a serious conversation about something having to do with being gone for a while to sort things out. And Pearl, well. I dunno where she’s gone to. Beyond all of that, everything is relatively the same” Greg finished, looking into an empty mug.

“What about the Diamonds? Are they fitting in ok?” Steven asked.

“Gimme the cereal and I can fill in on that.” Amethyst grumbled to Steven. In turn, Steven slid the bowl down the counter and into Amethyst’s hand. Amethyst then quickly gulped down the soggy cerial and began to speak.

“Well, from what I know, Blue Diamond ended up making a small home in a cave north of here, and Yellow is going to be on the moon for now. They didn’t want to garner any unwanted attention from people. For now, we wont be seeing much of them, and at the same time, you and I have become babysitters for about 2 dozen greenhorn gems. Hopefully it will be as easy as it was when we showed Peridot around.” Amethyst said. “And speaking of Peri, She and Lapis are trying to repair things, and go back to the way things were like spending time with me meant nothing at all.”

Amethyst looked more depressed now than she did before.

“I’ll be in my room, reorganizing junk piles.” Amethyst mumbled as she limped away from the counter and into her room. Greg looked deeply concerned.

“Well, maybe ‘relatively the same’ might be a stretch.” Greg stated.  
As the morning turned into afternoon, Steven hasn’t seen Amethyst or Pearl for the entire day. It felt like Pearl was avoiding everyone and Amethyst didn’t want any part in anything anymore. He preoccupied his time showing the era 3 Peridots new tech and teaching them how things worked. They were like miniature Peridots, but slightly less temperamental. They didn’t pose any harm, but he still had to be gentile and direct with them. He also had found time to make an afternoon snack for Connie once school is over. Her house was almost complete, and most of her stuff was already in boxes, so she would instead hang out at Steven’s house until her mom came to pick her up. Pearl had agreed to tutor Connie every day after school, since she skipped a grade, and she might need all the help she can get.

At half past 3, Steven was in the middle of showing the E3 Peri’s how to play lonely blade when he heard the door open. He told the Peridots he would be right back as he rushed out of the room and climbed down the stairs to greet Connie. Connie was worn out, through and through. The moment she entered the house her backpack slid off her shoulders and hit the ground with a hard THUNK. It sounded as though it was as heavy as a boulder.

“Hey Connie! How was your first…day?” Steven asked while Connie had limped away from Steven and went towards the counter.

“foo.” Connie mumbled.

“Food? Oh yeah, I made you a snack for once you came home.” Steven told Connie as she struggled to get up on the stool, but gave up and decided to just stick with leaning up against the counter. Steven went to the fridge and pulled out a plate with a couple of PB&J sandwiches, a couple of glasses of smoothies, and some carrot sticks. Connie’s eyes widened.

“Food.” Connie mumbled again.

“Yeah, food. Are you ok?” Steven asked putting the plate down. Connie snatched a sandwich from the plate and dug into it.

“Jush tireb n hungry” Connie said in between bites.

“That rough of a day? Did you have anything to eat at all?” Steven asked with great concern for his jam bud.

“No time. Never got the chance.” Connie replied, sounding somewhat more cognitive. “It was a borderline nightmare.”

Steven was somewhat curious as to what school was like. Was it like anything on TV, or in the movies? He’s been mostly homeschooled by Pearl for most of his life, and seemed to be on the same wavelength with Connie whenever they talked about books, or life. But hearing that it was like a nightmare, Steven began to feel a bit more thankful.

“A nightmare? What happened?” Steven asked with concern. “And take your time, I don’t want you to choke.”

Connie slowed down and put down the sandwich. She took a deep breath and started from the beginning.

“Well, after you left, Jenny and Kiki showed me some of the school, but the warning bell rang and I had to find my first class. It was chaos, but Kiki was able to point out where the general area of where the classroom was. I beat the final bell by mere seconds. Once I got into the classroom, the Teacher just locked the door while a couple of students were trying to get in. He just locked them out. They were right behind me, and he just did that.” Connie said in disbelief. “Security came by and just shuffled them off to the office. My first teacher happened to be one of the strictest ones. Makes the diamonds seem like Amethyst.”

Connie took a sip of the smoothie before continuing.

“After 3 other classes, which I was nearly late for them all, lunch bell rang, and it was chaos all over again. I had to choose to either find out where the rest of the classrooms were, or get something to eat. And I didn’t want to spend my first day of high school in a school office getting slapped with detention, so I ended up skipping lunch.”

“Didn’t Jenny or Kiki try to help? What about Sour Cream, or Buck?” Steven asked with growing concern.

“They…. they weren’t around. It was the first day of school and they probably had their own thing to do.” Connie answered, while looking down at the plate. “I…. didn’t want to get in their way. Having some confused freshman following them around.”

“Connie…” Steven spoke. He wanted to reach out and hold Connie’s hand to reassure her, but hesitated. This didn’t go unnoticed by Connie, who reached out to hold his hand.

“I understand that you wanted to look out for me, but I don’t want to be a burden to anyone. You know that.” Connie said, looking Steven in the eyes. “I’ll try to manage on my own, and maybe I’ll be late by one second one time and get slapped with a detention, but that’s ok. I don’t think I should worry about having a spotless record.”

“Connie. I understand what you mean.” Steven said. “but maybe you could give the cool kids a chance to help you out. Technically, you’re part of the gang now. And they’re not as unapproachable as they seem. You should give them a chance.”

“Maybe. I dunno. Let’s just table that for another time. I need to see pearl about tutoring. Things are seeming more difficult than I thought.” Connie said looking around. “Is she in her room?”

Stevens mind had shot back to the previous week. After his birthday and he got settled in, things had grown tense around the house. His memories of fighting and shouting between pearl and Amethyst, or Amethyst and Peridot, or Peridot and Lapis. Things were not great. He was adrift in his mind, lost in thought as to how to keep everyone together. It was his responsibility to do so. Or so he felt it was. How will he try to fix this without Garnet around? How can he help Amethyst and Pearl find some reconciliation, help Amethyst forgive Pearl for something she had no control over? Peridot and Lapis were a whole different, but oddly similar set of problems. Steven was lost inside his head again. He heard some muffling sound amongst the memories of the arguing.

“Steven? Steven?” the sound went on. Ultimately something shook him out of his daydream. Something that tasted like peanut butter. Connie?

Steven snapped back to reality with Connie poking the triangle corner of a PB&J sandwich at his mouth. Steven took a quick bite of it.

“Welcome back, biscuit.” Connie said, looking somewhat relieved. “Nearly resorted to either kissing you or shaking you really hard. Is everything ok? Where’s Pearl?”

Steven walked away from the counter and over to the unoccupied couch where lion was sleeping on only moments ago. Where he went is anyone’s guess. Steven slumped down on the couch, feeling defeated.

“She…. hasn’t been around much. Whenever she has, it would either be for a moment, or she’s avoiding the Diamonds, or avoiding me. Things are off now.” Steven said. “Garnet is missing, or on a long honeymoon, or just left for a long time. I don’t know. Amethyst and Pearl aren’t talking to each other or they’re arguing. Same with Lapis and Peridot. No one is talking and everyone is miserable. And I’m suppose to keep it all together.”

As Connie walked over to the couch to sit right next to Steven, Steven looked up at the area where his mother’s portrait once hung, but now replaced by a large painting by Vidalia, showing most of the townspeople, the gems both old and new, as well as Steven and Connie and their parents. Everyone standing around another portrait of Rose Quartz. Even Blue Diamond found a way into the background with a wide smiling face. Staring at his mothers painting, he wonders what would she do? But that idea never leads anywhere useful. Especially now that the truth was out. If Vidalia knew the truth, what would be in the place of his mother’s portrait?

“I don’t know what to do, Connie. I’m trying to keep everyone together, but Pearl is shutting me out, and Amethyst doesn’t want to help. Garnet is gone, and Lapis and Peridot might as well be too. I feel alone in all of this. I can’t keep them together.”

Connie held Stevens hand tight.

“You don’t need to be. I know what you’re thinking, and you’re wrong. You’re not in charge of their problems. You are not, nor will you ever be, your mom.” Connie told Steven. “you’re so much better than your mom. You have a pure heart, you wouldn’t lie, or keep anything from anyone. The Gems probably had worse fights than this, but they always made up in the end. And even now, they can’t afford to be apart forever. They just need time to go through the motions. Things will return to normal, but for now, let them do them. And also, you aren’t alone. It may seem like that from time to time, but I’m still here, Steven. Maybe not between 7 and 4 on the weekdays, but I’m still here for you.”

Connie curled up next to Steven and rested her head on his shoulders as she yawned.

“Connie. If I stop thinking I’m my mom, or that I’m the one that needs to keep everything together, then maybe, could you give the cool kids a chance?” Steven asked Connie “You won’t be a burden on them. And also, I think they like you. They think you’re really cool, and pretty, and intelligent. You’re probably the coolest person I know.”

“I’ll try.” Connie said before yawning again and trying to get more comfortable. “Old habits die hard.” She’s deadset on getting some sleep before either Pearl pops her head out, or when her mom comes by to pick her up.

“I know, Connie. Get some rest. I’ll let you know when pearl comes out. I’ll help you go over any homework you have when Pearl shows up.” Steven told a tired Connie.

“Thank you, Biscuit. Gnigh…” Connie mumbled.

“G’night, Strawberry.” Steven replied, beginning to feel sleepy himself. “I love you”.

Steven stared out at the window as he watches the colors in the skies changing.

**Author's Note:**

> next month; things begin to go bump in the night for Steven and amethyst. with the remodeling comes the usual new creaking sounds as well as shapes in the doorway and shadows in the rafters. you know, the usual stuff. it seems like someone forgot to close the door, and something had escaped. hope to be done by Halloween. title TBA.


End file.
